Obesity and diabetes risk linked to maternal blood sugar level

According to fresh research published in the September issue of the journalDiabetes Care, pregnant women who have blood sugar levels above average are two times as likely to give birth to an overweight child . This child is therefore more likely to develop obesity and type 2 diabetes.

Even non-diabetic women who had higher than usual blood sugar levels were more likely to have obese children than those diabetics who managed their blood sugar levels correctly.

One of the authors of the study, Teresa Hillier, reportedly commented: "The good news about this study is it appears the risk of obesity is potentially reversible." The study was conducted at the Kaiser Permanentes Center for Health Research. To generate results, the team examined over 9,000 mother-child pairs.

The conclusions of the study prove that elevated blood sugar during pregnancy is a major concern. The good news is that it can usually be treated with exercise, diet, or even insulin.